Photo-type composing machines



June 27 1961 c BRAGc-:s ErAL 2,989,904

' PHOTO-TYPE coMPosING MACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March- 9. 1960 JOmPZOU nam. wU am INVEN-roa Mmmm Y ATTORNEYS June 27, 1961 c. BRAGGs ETAL 2,989,904

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PHOTO-TYPE coMPosING MACHINES Filed Maron 9. 1960 5 sheets-sheet 4 lNveN-rozs ATToRNbYS June 27, 1961 c. BRAGGS ETAL 2,989,904

PHOTO-TYPE COMPOSING MACHINES Filed March 9. 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 WSH $2/ alsa alsa F/G.

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United States Patent O 2,989,904 PHOTO-TYPE 'COMPOSING MACHINES Cecil Braggs, Crawley, and Ivor William Bolton, Haywards Heath, England, assignors to The Monotype Corporation Limited, London, England Filed Mar. 9, 1960, Ser. No. 13,870 Claims priority, application Great Britain Mar. 13, 1959 23 Claims. (Cl. 9S-4.5)

This invention relates to photo-type composing machines for producing photographically, on a light Sensitive surface lines of typographie image composition, the machine according to the invention being of the kind in which master characters are carried by a disc rotatable to bring selected characters one by one into the optical axis of the machine, an exposure being made to produce an image of each character on the light-sensitive surface and relative movement between the optical axis and the light sensitive surface being effected between exposures to produce the required spacing of the characters.

The object of the invention is to provide a readily transportable machine of the kind referred to which is primarily intended for producing short compositions such as map names, display headings, titles for use with cinematograph iilms or television transmissions, tabular matter and sho-rt sections of text matter. The machine according to the invention is primarily suitable for producing unjustified composition but may be used for producing justified composition if required.

According to one feature of the invention, the master characters are disposed in circumferential array on two or more discs rotatable about a common centre, means being provided for positioning any one of said discs in a predetermined plane the disc so positioned being connectable to means for rotating the said disc to bring any character thereon into the optical axis of the machine, the other disc or discs being held by locking means in positions such that apertures or openings therein are in line with the said optical axis.

According to `another feature of the invention the light sensitive surface is mounted on a carriage movable stepby-step to space the character images produced on the said surface, the magnitude ot" each step of movement` being determined by signal-controlling means associated with each character and determining, in accordance with a predetermined code, the movement of a carriage feed mechanism.

Preferably, the movement of the carriage is eifected by primary driving means producing, for each step, a basic increment of movement, with or without the cooperation of one or more of a plurality of further driving means each responsive to an appropriate signal determined by the signal-controlling means and each producing a diierent divisional proportionment so that a wide range of total steps of movement can be obtained.

Conveniently, the signal controlling means comprise a plurality of photo-electric cells grouped so as to receive light through dilierent portions of a control area associated with each master character, the portions of the said control area associated with each character which are transparent being chosen in accordance with the width of the character.

The accompanying drawings show diagrammatically and by way of example a photo-type composing machine according to one embodiment.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic layout showing the principal components of the machine;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view seen from the rear of the disc assembly showing in particular disc assembly Shift mechanism for effecting axial displacement thereof;

2,989,904 Patented June 27, 1961 FIGURE 3 is a perspective view showing the master character construction;

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of the means for locating and locking the master characters in the optical axis of the machine in position for photographing;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of driving mechanism for effecting the stepwise movement of the carriage supporting the light-sensitive material;

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of manually adjustable mechanism for varying movement of the carriage in accordance with variation of the characters;

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view showing further details of the carriage driving mechanism and means for varying the stepwise movement thereof automatically and in accordance with the code signalling means;

FIGURE 8 is an end View of a differential gear associated with the carriage driving mechanism;

FIGURE 9 is a side View of a signal operated mech-l anism determining the magnitude of the stepwise movement of the carriage;

FIGURE l0 is a view on line X-X of FIGURE 9;

FIGURE ltl is a view showing details of the mechanism of FIGURES 9 and l0; `and FIGURE 12 is a detail of a switch element associated with the carriage driving mechanism.

Referring to the general arrangement shown in FIG- URE l, the machine comprises an assembly of three discs A on each of which the master characters are disposed in circumferential array. The disc assembly is mounted so as to ybe axially movable as a Whole to bring any one of the discs into a predetermined plane, hereinafter referred to as the operative plane, wherein the selected disc can be rotated to bring the desired character into the optical,-

line spacing of the composition by mechanism shown generally at G, the carriage itself being movable stepwise laterally for the purpose of spacing the characters by carriage feed mechanism shown generally at H, variation of the lateral stepwise movement being determined by mechanism shown generally at J, the operation of which is dependent upon a signalling system the function of which is controlled by code means associated with each master character. The operation of the various mechanisms is controlled according to a predetermined cycle of operation and in timed sequence by suitably arranged electric or electro-mechanical units each of which is identied in FIGURE 1 by an appropriate legend indicating broadly the function thereof. Manually operable means are also provided for the purpose of pre-setting the desired functions subsequently carried out automatically or to adjust the same.

Referring now to FIGURES l and 2, the disc assembly A consists of three-character bearing discs designated respectively 1, 2, 3 which are mounted co-axially on a hub 4 so as to be individually rotatable, the hub being mounted on a supporting spindle '5 which is mountable in suitable mounting means so that the disc assembly can be inserted or removed as a whole from the machine. The hub is axially slidable on the supporting spindle 5 to bring any one of the discs into the operative plane. The axial movement of the disc assembly is effected through a mechanical linkage consisting of an arm 6 which is slidably mounted by one end on a splined guide shaft 7, the other end of the arm having a yoke 8 the lugs 9 of .which locate in theperipheral groove of a thrust collar carried by the disc-mounting hub 4. The arm- 6 is slidable along the guide shaft 7 by a manually operable shift lever 11 which is movable lengthwise in the gate 12 to permit engagement of the shift lever in any one of the three slots in the gate. Each slot corresponds to the location of a selected disc in the operative position and are therefore designated 1a, 2a and 3a respectively. To move the disc assembly A from one axial position to another, the shift lever is depressed to withdraw the same from the slot in which it is located, whereby the same can be moved lengthwise in the gate the guide shaft 7 being rotatable to permit the withdrawal movement of the shift lever.

Each character-bearing dis'c 1, 2, 3 is formed with an aperture 13 in its peripheral portion and, in predetermined angular relation to the aperture, is provided with radially projecting teeth 14 forming between them a pair of tooth gaps 15. Mounted co-axially with the discs 1, 2, 3 of the disc assembly is a driving disc 16 which is manually rotatable, the driving disc having a rearwardly projecting driving arm 17 which is formed with a projection 18 at its rear end which is engageable in one of the tooth gaps of any one of the character bearing discs 1, 2, 3 located in the operative plane, the two discs outside the operative plane being held against rotational movement by a locking bar 19 which is engageable in the tooth gaps 15 of the said two discs. During axial movement of the disc assembly A the driving disc 16 is held against rotation by the engagement of a locking nger 16a in a locking slot 16b in the periphery of the driving disc. The locking nger 16a is carried by the guide shaft 7 so as to be rockable upon rotational movement of the said shaft.

Each of the character-bearing discs 1, 2, 3, carries a circumferential array of master characters 20, the said character-bearing discs being formed with windows 21, and the master characters 20 being mounted on transparent plates 22 adapted to be removably secured to the disc over the windows by pins 23 on the transparent plates entering holes in the disc. The driving disc 16 has an internally `serrated rim, each oney of the serrations corresponding to a character 24 inscribed on the driving disc, su'ch characters corresponding to the master characters 20 on the character-bearing discs 1, 2, 3. In order to bring a selected character into position for photographing, after the disc bearing that character has been brought into the operative plane, the same is rotated by the operator inserting a finger into the serration on the driving disc rim corresponding to the selected character whereupon the driving disc can be rotated to a predetermined limit position which indicates that the selected character has been initially located in the position for photographing. In FIGURE l, the intermediate character-bearing disc 2 is located in the operative plane and has been rotated to bring the selected character M into position for photographing, the character-bearing discs 1 and 3 being held locked against movement by the locking bar 19 with the clearance apertures 13 in said two discs in alignment with one another and with the selected character M. Movement of a disc into the operative plane brings the teeth of that disc into a cut-away portion 19a ofthe locking bar 19 so that the disc is unlocked and free to be rotated.

When in the position for photographing, the selected character is located in a gap 26 Ibetween the arms 27 of the body 28 of the locking means B, and in the pathpof a light beam from the light source C which is located above an opening 29 in the body 28, the light beam being directed onto the positioned character by suitably arranged prisms' in the body. The selected character is held positively in position for photographing by engaging the outer en ds 30 of the securing pins 23, which outer ends protrude through the disc, in locating members, 31, 32. The locating member 31has a hole` 33"for receiving one pinand the locating member 32 a V groove 34..for.re.- ceiving the pointed outer end of thev otherpin. The engaglement between the pins and thelocating `members .is

effected by causing displacement of the locating means from a retracted position towards the selected character whereby the same is clamped in position. 'I'he light beam passing through the character also passes through a window in the arm of the body 28, the image of the character being projected by the lens D onto the sensitised material on the iilm carrier. When a character isl locked inposition the driving disc 16 is also held automatically against rotation as a result of engagement of the arm 17 with the disc in the operative plane.

The light beam is utilised to produce a signal which initiates operation of the mechanism I, to adjust the carriage feed mechanism H, so that the magnitude of the increment of movement subsequently imparted to the carriage is in accordance with the code pattern associated with the selected character. For this purpose the characters are transparent on an opaque ground, and each character has alongside it a space for a code pattern 35. The space for the code pattern is square and the pattern controls the passage of light from the lamp to four photoelectric cells 36, 37, 38 and 39, arranged in a square and carried by the body 28. The passage of light to the photo-electric cells is determined by the portion or por-` tions of the code pattern space which are transparent and dependent on the width of the character, the whole space may be opaque or one or more of four segments thereof is made transparent. The use of the code pattern to adjust the carriage movement will now be described in conjunction with the description of the carriage feed mechanism H.

The feed carriage F is moved with lthe required stepwise movement, by the intermittent rotation of a driving drum 40 ywhich is coupled to the carriage by a driving band 41 which Winds-up on the drumt 40 during advanceing movements of the carriage. The carriage is returnable to a retracted or zero-position by a spring motor 42 which is energised by the advancing movements of the carriage, a stop member 43 carried by the driving drum engaging a Xed abutment 44 when the carriage is in such position. The driving drum y40 is carried by a sleeve 45 rotatably mounted on a driving shaft 46 the sleeve 45 and driving shaft being connectable in driving engagement with one another by a magnetic clutch 47. Also mounted on the driving shaft 46 is a further sleeve 48 which carries a toothed wheel 49, referred to as a, unit wheel, and a gear pinion 50. When the unit wheelv is rotated as hereinafter described, the gear pinion 50, is also rotated and drives through any selected one of a train of gears, represented generally in FIGURE 5 by the gears 51, 52, a drive pinion 53 carried by the shaft 46 whereby the said shaft is driven. The gear train which is shown in greater detail in FIGURE 8 is compounded around the driving shaft 46 and provides a 1-1 ratio as shown by the gears 51, 52, and four reduction ratios by suitably positioning theremovable change over gear 52.

Rotation of the unit wheel 49 is effected by linear movement of la driving rack 54, the amount of movement of which is controlled by the mechanism .l so that each stepwise movement ofthe driving drum is sutiicient to effect displacement of the carriage to give the spacing,

determined by the code pattern associated with the photographed character. The driving rack 54 is mounted so that thesa-me is movable to enable the teeth thereof to be moved into and out of engagement with the teeth of'A rack and a fixed stop member 58. The drivingrack 54 is raised into engagement `with-the unit wheel 49 by causing upward swingingmovement of a radius arm 59 at@ tached to oneend-of a rotatable spindle 60 the locking gesamt pawl $5 being carried by a-'further radius arm 61 projecting from one of a pair of discs 62 freely mounted on the spindle 60, the discs beinginterconnected by coupling rod 63. Turning movements of the spindle 60 and discs 62 to effect respectively engagement of the driving rack 54 with the unit wheel 49 and the withdrawal of the locking pawl 55 are effected by causing rotation of a cam 64 and associated cam followers 65' each of which is carried by an appropriate lever -arrn 66 interconnected by tens-ion spring 67 to urge the cam followers into engagement with the cam profile. The cam 64 is mounted on a shaft `68 which is rotated upon energisation of la rotary solenoid 69, the cam profile being designed so that engagement of rack 54 with the unit wheel 49 takes place before withdrawal of the 'locking paw] 55.

Linear movement of the driving rack 54 to rotate the unit wheel 49 results from energisation of a const-ant stroke rotary solenoid 70 the circuit of which is controlled by switch contacts 71 operated by switch operating linkage 72 operatively associated with the shaft 68. As shown in FIGURE l2 the switch contacts are held in the closed position by the interlocking latching memi bers 73, one of which is carried by an arm 73a freel;l

pivotal on the shaft 68, and urged by spring 73-b towards the latching position, but normally held out of such position and against the spring action by a retaining arm 73C carried by the shaft 68 so as to be rotatable therewith. 'I'he armature of the rotary solenoid 70 is rotatable anticlockwise through 25 and carries a radius arm 74 from which projects a pivot pin 75 on which a lever 76 is pivotally mounted. The lower end of lever 76 is coupled through a pin and slot connection 77 to the adjacent end of the driving rack 54, the upper end being pivotally coupled at 78 to a detecting rod 79. Thus, when the rotary solenoid 70 is energised radius arm 7`4 turns in the clockwise direction and during .initial movement causes displacement of lever 76 which results in linear movement of the detecting rod 79, the lever pivoting about the coupling at its lower end. A dash pot arrangement shown generally at 70a controls the return movement of the rotary solenoid 70.

The detecting rod 79 is associated with the mechanism J the operation of which determines the amount of linear movement of the detecting rod at each exposure of a character so that when such movement is interrupted the lever 76 will swing about the pivotal connection 78 the resulting linear movement of the driving rack 54 effecting rotation of the unit wheel 49. The -amount of linear movement of the driving rack 54 will therefore vary in accordance with the adjusted position of the pivotal connection 78 which position is determined by the mechanism J.

Interruption of the linear movement of the detecting rod 79 is effected by positioning one of a plurality of stop members in the path of movement thereof, the stop members being incorporated in the mechanism .I and selected for positioning according to the code pattern of the master character being photographed.

VAs shown in FIGURES 9 and l0 the mechanism J includes a plurality of pilates 80 each of which forms a stop member. The plates 80 are each provided with two rectangular apertures 81, the plates being assembled side by side on four supporting shafts 82, 83, 84 and 85 arranged in two pairs each pair extending through one or the other of the rectangular passages formed by the aligned apertures 81. The supporting shafts 82 to 85 are individually rotatable and each said shaft is provided in its periphery'with cut-away portions shown as 82a, 83a, 84a and 85a respectively, the cut away portions being so arranged that according to the rotation through a determined amount of any one, or a combination of any, or all vof the four shafts, a desired one of the plates 80 can beforcedby an associated blade spring 86 out of alignment with the remaining plates to proyide a stop member in the path of movement'of the detecting rod 79. Rotation oteach shaft is effected by an associated rotary solenoid designated respectively 82b, 831), 84b and 85b,fthe

energisation of said solenoids being controlled by the energisation of the photo-electric cells the operation of which is in turn controlled by the code pattern associated with the master characters.

The increments of movement of the carriage are based on the well-known set system in which the set meas-. urement of a character may be described as distance in points and quarters `of a point (one point being ac-` cepted as .0138 inch), between imaginary lines bounding the space occupied by the widest normal character. The

unit of set is taken as being one eighteenth part of the set measurement of the widest normal character, the f narrowest character having a set measurement of five such units. Based on this, the mechanism I therefore includes fifteen plates 80, the thickness of each plate being equivalent to one unit of set and a fixed plate 87 at one end of the plate assembly the thickness of the fixed plate being equivalent to five units of se and the detector rod being capable of a total linear movement equal to twenty units of set. Thus by providing each master character 20 with a code pattern indicating its unit width appropriate operation of the mechanism J will be obtained to produce the stepping movement of the carriage F corresponding to the required letter spacing. For exf ample assuming that a character having the minimum width or five units of set has been selected for photographing, the corresponding code pattern will mask al1 four photoelectric cells so that no signal is received by the mechanism I. The plate supporting shafts 82 to 85 remain stationary so that the detector rod 79 travels its maximum linear movement until arrested by the xed i stop plate 87 with the result that the driving rack 54 is moved a distance corresponding to only five units of set, the carriage being moved correspondingly. tively, where twenty units of set are signalled by the binary code pattern all four photo-electric cells will be energised, all the plate supporting shafts being rotated to permit positioning of the first plate of the plate assembly in the stop position with the result that the movement of the detecting rod is stopped at the commencement of its stroke and the driving rack 54 moved a distance corresponding to twenty units of set.

The increments of movement of the carriage deteri mined by the mechanism I are multiples of a fixed unit unit of movement of the carriage. The arrangement for obtaining this variation will now be described with reference to FIGURE 6.

As' shown in FIGURE 6 the run of the band passes around a first pulley 88 and a second pulley 89 the portion of the band around pulley 88` providing a reverse run. The first pulley 88 is rotatably mounted on a pulley shaft 90 carried by a slide member 91 which is connected at one end by a coupling 92 to the upper end of a lever 93, referred to as a movable fulcrum lever, the' said lever being pivotally mounted on a slide arrangement 94 movable lengthwise of the lever by a manually adjustable control knob 95. The movable fulcrum lever 93 is connected at its lower end by a pivotal coupling 96 to one end of a rack 97 which is urged by a spring 97a to a normally retracted position shown. The teeth of the rack 97 engage the teeth of a pinion 98 which in turn meshes with a pinion 99 carried by the driving shaft 46 so that when the driving shaft 46 rotates the rack 97 i moves to the left (FIG. 6) against the spring action and the movable fulcrum lever 93 swings about the pivot of the fulcrum arrangement 94. If the fulcrum arrangement 9,4 is at itsextreme upperposition on the lever 93.

Alternawhich corresponds toa 1-1 ratio of character size, the swinging movement has no effect on the pulley slide 91 andthe magnitude of movement of the carriage. is determined wholly by the movement of the driving rack 54. When however a change in the point size of a character is to be made the control knob 95 is operated to adjust the position of the slide 94 from the upper limit positiony and in accordancewith the` readings given on a graduated scale associated with the manually operable control knob 95. Thus, whenr the rack 97 is moved to the, left (FIG. 6) against the action of the spring the movablefulcrum lever 93 turns about the fulcrum pivot, so that, the upper end thereof moves to the right and pulls 'the pulley` slide 90 and first pulley 88' in the same direction thus increasing the stepwise movement of the carriage, the amount being variable in accordance with thetadjusted position of the fulcrum slide 94. It will be appreciated that upon adjustment of the control knob 95 corresponding adjustment of the ratio of the gears 51, 52 may be necessary to obtain a large change of ratio. In addition to a fine setting graduated scale associated with. the control knob 95 a coarse setting scale 10.0.l is. associated with the fulcrum slide 94.

If variation of the character point size is to be made in a line of composition, the carriage drive must be disconnected from the carriage before the hand knob 95 is operated means being provided however for holding the carriage4 in the previous position. Accordingly clamping means shown diagrammatically at 141 are provided, operable toclamp on the driving band 41 so that the carriage is held against return movement to the Zero position whilst adjustment of the point size is made.

Provision is also made for effecting manual adjustment of the position of the carriage F, to permit for example indenting or the production of justified composition. For this` purpose the pulley 89 is carried by a pulley slide, 101 movable lengthwise by a further manually operable control knob 102 a suitable tabulating scale being provided on the carriage to indicate the adjusted position thereof.

Desired space between words of aline of text or where additional space is required between characters is obtained byop-eration of a hand set space dial 103 located on a panel 104,-at the front of the machineand below the driving disc 16I so as. to be convenient to the operator. TheI desired increment of movement is pre-set by `rotation ofV the dial, vand when the space increment is required a space bar 105 at the operator position is depressed and electrical contact means, not shown, adjusted by the dial rotation, are usedy to control circuits which by-pass the character binary code signals, prevent the character exposure means from operating, and permit operation of the, mechanism J and the carriage feed mechanism to cause the required movement of the carriage.

The carrier for the sensitised material is not shown in detailv but may consist for example, of a subsidiary carriage` mounted on the carriage F so as' to be movable transverse to the direction of movement of said main carriage. The subsidiary carriage is adapted to support a `film container in which, a light-sensitive film is flat mounted or supported against a sheet of glass, the container being provided with a roller blind or like device to mask the film from light during mounting in and removal from the machine.

The subsidiary carriage is' moved to displace the sensitised surface in a direction perpendicular to the lines of composition either manually or by power means, the movement being imparted to the subsidiary carriage by a lever movable between adjustable stops which determine the incrementsofr movement. The lever carries a pawl driving :a `rack which in turn drives, through pinions, a shaft carrying a pinion meshing with a rack on the subsidiary. carriage, so that a downward movement ofthe levenproduces antupward movement. of; ther carriage,. to

ant extent determined@ by thev stops, the lever` returningidly. The spacing of the stops cooperating with the lever within a housing which is made in two sections telescopically arranged so as to be slidable relative to one another. The front section of the housing contains the assembly of discs A the driving disc 16 being mounted exteriorly on the front end wall thereof, the rear section of the housing containing' the carriage F and associated mechanism. The

optical unit containing the lens- D is mounted Within the,

housing so as to be` axially adjustable, hand operated control knobs with suitably graduated scales being provided for effecting displacement of the casing sections relative to one another and also adjustment of the posi,

tion of the lens when a change of point size is to be carried out.

Operation of the machine and composition of the type image matter using the machine according to the invention is as follows.

Each character bearing disc conveniently carries a fount of type characters, the characters on one disc being, for example, Roman, those on the second disc Italic and those on the third disc Bold.

Selection of the disc bearing the appropriate fount is effected by first rotatingthe driving disc 16 to a disc shift position indicated by a suitable marking such operation ensuring that all the apertures 13 of the discs are in alignment with one another and positioned so that upon axial movement thereof by operation of the shift lever 11 the discs can pass freely over the arms 27 of the body 28 to locate the selected disc in the gap 26.

Having adjusted the machine controls for the required point size, vertical film feed of the film carrier and stepwise feed of the carriage, the operator rotates the driving disc 16 until the required character is brought into the gap 26 which position is indicated by contact of the operators finger with a trip member 106 which as a result of such contact is turned out of the vertical position either to the left or right dependent upon the direction in which the driving disc has been rotated, the turning movement causing initial mechanical locking of the driving disc by` operation of a locking lever (not shown) provided with locking detents one or the other of which engage with co-operating means on the driving disc. As a result of this displacement of the trip member electric switch contacts associated therewith are operated to bring into circuit the electrical control unit 107 and initiate the cycle of operations which include;

(i) Locating and locking the selected character in position for photographing and simultaneous locking of the indexing disc 16;

(ii) Completion of light source circuit by operation of an exposure time control.

After the exposure has been made the ihn exposure time control operates to switch olf the light source, the circuit to the rotary solenoid 69 being completed at the same time so that shaft 68 rotates and cam 64 operates to raise the driving rack 54 into engagement with the unit wheel 49 and also disengage the locking pawl 55. The carriage feed mechanism is now in readiness for operation the mechanism I having been adjusted during the exposure of the character.

As a result of the rotation of shaft 68, the contacts 71 are closed `and the circuit of constant stroke solenoid 70 completed so that the carriage is moved. At the end of the stroke of the constant stroke solenoid 70 switch contacts 108 associated therewith and normally closed, are opened by arm 109, yand release a timer locking relay in the unit 107 which operates to open the circuit of rotary solenoid 69 `which through its contained spring returns shaft: 68-to its starting position` 'Ihis movement of shaftI 68 releases latch 73 so that contacts 71 are free to sepav, rate and constant stroke solenoid de-energised, the mechanism then being ready for the start of a further cycle of operations.

When a line of composition has' been completed the lm is raised by upward movement of the subsidiary carriage E the main carriage F being returned to the start position by the spring motor 42 the drum 40 being disconnected from driving connection with the driving shaft 46 by de-energisation of the magnetic clutch 47 so that the drum revolves freely on shaft 46 under the pull of the driving band 41.

It will be appreciated that any suitable electrically operated timing devices can be used where required to control functions in the cycle of operations andaccordingly detailed explanation of any such means is considered unnecessary.

During the exposure of a character the character locating and locking means is operative to secure the positioned character-bearing disc and the driving disc locked against movement. lHowever so soon as the light source is switched off a solenoid operating the locking means is defenergised so that the same is rendered inoperative thus permitting the selection and positioning of the next character to be effected. Adjustment of the time of the exposure can be effected by a manually operable control 110.

It will be understood that the embodiment described above is given by way of example only and that changes can be incorporated without departing from the scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. A photo-type composing machine of the kind set forth wherein master characters are disposed in circumferential array on two or more discs rotatable about a common centre, means being provided for positioning any one of said discs in a predetermined plane, the disc so positioned being connectable to means for rotating said discl to bring any character thereon into the optical axis of the machine, the other disc or discs being held by locking means in position such that apertures or openings therein are in line with the said optical axis.

2. A machine according to claim l, wherein the discs are mounted so as to be axially movable as a whole to bring one or other of said discs into the predetermined plane.

3. A machine according to claim 1, wherein rotation of a disc in the predetermined plane is effected by rotation of a rotatable driving member, each character-bearing disc having coupling means engageable by cooperating means on the rotatable driving member to connect said rotatable driving member and a disc in driving engagement with one another when a character-bearing disc is in the predetermined plane.

4. A machine according to claim 3, wherein the rotatable driving member is mounted co-axially with the character-bearing discs and is provided with a driving arm projecting outwardly from one face thereof, the outer end of said driving arm having means engageable with ooacting means on the periphery of each said disc when the disc is in lthe predetermined plane.

5. A photo-type composing machine of the kind set forth wherein master characters are disposed in circumferential array on two or more discs rotatable about a common centre, means being pnovided for positioning any one of said discs in a predetermined plane, the disc so positioned being connectable to means vfor rotating said disc to bring any character thereon into the optical axis of the machine, the other disc or discs being held by locking means in position such that apertures or openings therein are in line with the said optical axis wherein means are provided for locating and locking each master character in the position for photographing when disposed in the focal plane.

6. A machine according to claim 5, wherein the location and locking of a master character in the position for photographing is eiected by clamping means engageable with means mounting a master character on the disc.

7. A machine according to claim 6, wherein pins mounting each master character on the character-bearing disc are engageable in locating means movable towards forth wherein master characters are disposed in circumf ferential array on tfwo or more discs rotatable about a common centre, means being provided for positioning any one of said discs in a predetermined plane, the disc so positioned being connectable to means for rotating said disc to bring any character thereon into the optical axis of the machine, the other disc or discs being held by locking means in position such that apertures or openings therein are in line with the said optical axis and wherein the master characters are photographed onto light sentitive material on a carriage movable with a stepping motion transversely to the optical axis of the machine.

9. A machine according to claim 8, wherein the magnitude of each increment of stepwise movement imparted to the carriage by carriage operating mechanism is determined by a signal or signals initiated by a code pattern associated with each master character and identifying the width thereof.

l0. A machine according to claim 9, wherein the signal or signals are initiated by energisation of one or more photo-electric cells associated with circuit means controlling the operation of mechanism determining the amount of movement imparted to the carriage by the carriage operating mechanism.

1l. A machine according to claim 10, wherein a light source for the master character exposure is utilised to energise the photo-electric cells.

12. A machine according to claim lO, wherein the car- 'I riage driving means includes a driving rack the amount of linear movement lof which is dependent upon the amount of movement of a detecting rod the movement of which is variable by the location of a selected one of a plurality of stops in the path of said rod, the selection of said stop being dependent upon the code pattern associated with the master character.

l13. A machine according to claim 9, wherein means are provided for permitting operation of the carriage driving means to produce increments of movement different to those dependent upon the code pattern.

14. -A machine according to claim 9, wherein means are provided for disconnecting the carriage tinom the carriage driving means to permit return of the car-riage to a start position.

15. A photo-type composing machine of the kind set forth wherein master characters are disposed incircumferential array on two or more discs rotatable about a common centre, means being provided for positioning any one of said discs in a predetermined plane, the disc so positioned being connectable to means for rotating said disc to bring any character thereon into the optical axis of the machine,- the other disc or discs being held by locking means in position such that apertures or openings therein are in line with the said optical axis and 'wherein means are provided for producing a master character image of different point size from that of the master character itself.

16. A machine according to claim l5, wherein the point size variation is effected by adjusting the position of a lens, projecting the image onto the sensitised film, in relation to the master character and the sensitised material.

17. A machine according to claim 16, wherein means are pnovided for effecting variation of the increments of movement of the carriage driving means in accordance with variation of the point size of a character.

18. A machine according to claim 17, wherein means 1 1 are provided for locking the carriage against movement whilst variation of the point size is effected.

19. A photo-type composing machine of the kindv set forth wherein master characters are disposed in circumferential array on two or more discs rotatable about a common centre, means being provided for positioning any one of said discs in a predetermined plane, the disc so positioned being connectable to means for rotating said disc to bring any character thereon into the optical axis of the machine, the other disc or discs being held by locking means in position such that apertures or openings therein are in line with the said optical axis wherein the location of a master character in the optical axis permits operation of means initiating the function of control means for effecting automatically the cycle of operations of themachine in timed sequence.

20; A machine according to claim4 19, wherein movement of the setting member to a `predetermined position corresponding to the location of av master character on the optical axis effects operation of a trip member associated with electric switch meanscontrolling operation of the control means.

21. A photo-type composing machine of the kind set forth wherein master characters are `disposed in circumferential array on two or more discs rotatable about a common centre, means being provided for positioning any one of said discs in a predetermined plane, the disc so positioned being connectable to means for rotating said disc to bring any character thereon into the optical axis of the machine, the other disc or ldiscs being held by locking means in position such that apertures or openings therein are in line with the said optical axis wherein the character-bearing disc rotating means carries an array of characters corresponding to the characters on the discs,

12 sponding master character on the disc positioned in the predetermined plane.

`22l A photo-type composing machine of the kind set forth wherein master characters are disposed in circumferential array on two or more discs rotatable about a common centre, means being provided for positioning any one of said discs in a predetermined plane, the disc so positioned being connectable to means for rotating said disc to bring any character thereon into the optical axis of the machine, the other disc or discs being held by locking means in position such that apertures or openings therein are in line with the said optical axis wherein each master character comprises an independent `element adapted for mounting on the character-bearing disc.

23. A photo-type composing machine of the kind set forth wherein master characters are disposed in circumferential array on two or more discs rotatable about a common centre, means being provided for positioning any one of said `discs in a predetermined plane, the disc so positionedY being connectable to means for rotating said disc to bring any character thereon into the optical axis of the machine, the other disc or discs being held by locking means in position such that apertures or openings therein arein line with the said optical axis wherein thelocation of a master character in the optical axis permits operation of means initiating the function of control means for effecting automatically the cycle of operations of the machine in timed sequence.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,646,731 Wirtz July 28, 1953 2,691,924 Plastaras Oct. 19, 1954 2,791,162 Snyder May 7, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 762,822 Great Britain Dec. 5, 1956 I821,895 Great Britain Oct. 14, 1959 

